Tale of Two Black Holes [Xray + Visible]
January 8th, 2015
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC

The real monster black hole is revealed in this new image from NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array of colliding galaxies Arp 299. In this image, the NuSTAR high-energy X-ray data appear in various colors overlaid on a visible-light image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

Before NuSTAR, astronomers knew that the each of the two galaxies in Arp 299 held a supermassive black hole at its heart, but they weren't sure if one or both were actively chomping on gas in a process called accretion. The new high-energy X-ray data reveal that the supermassive black hole in the galaxy on the right is indeed the hungry one, releasing energetic X-rays as it consumes gas.

In this image, X-rays with energies of 4 to 6 kiloelectron volts are red, energies of 6 to 12 kiloelectron volts are green, and 12 to 25 kiloelectron volts are blue.

Observation

About the Object

Name
Arp 299NGC 3690IC 694
Type
Galaxy > Type > Interacting
Galaxy > Grouping > Multiple
Distance
134,000,000 Light Years

Color Mapping

Band Wavelength Telescope
X-ray 5.0 keV NuSTAR
X-ray 8.0 keV NuSTAR
X-ray 20.0 keV NuSTAR
Optical 814 nm Hubble ACS
Optical 435 nm Hubble ACS

Astrometrics

Position ()
RA = 11h 28m 32.0s
Dec = 58° 34' 0.2"
Field of View
3.1 x 3.1 arcminutes
Orientation
North is 6.8° left of vertical